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Washington County Auditor Matthew Livengood said there are multiple factors as to why property taxes increased for Tax Year 2025. He said as the real estate market trends upward, property owners can expect property value increases which correlates to an increase in property taxes.

“In 2022, the Auditor’s Office completed a state-required reappraisal of property values,” said Livengood. “The state requires counties to update these values every three years, which is known as a Triennial Update.”

According to Livengood, most property tax bills for Tax Year 2025 are based on updated values that were set in 2022.

“Local real estate market activity tells us that sales reflect an increase in real estate values from three years ago,” he said. “Based on these sales figures, the Ohio Department of Taxation recommended a county-wide aggregate of a 25% increase in residential values, or an increase of about 8% per year since 2022.”

He said the values don’t change uniformly across the county either. Some districts could see a 4% increase and some could experience up to a 40% increase.

Livengood said increases in property taxes are also due to levies that were newly voted in last year, with three in Washington County.

He said there was a county-wide children services levy voted on last May with an increase in taxes of $17.50/year for every $100,000 of assessed property value.

Belpre City Schools passed a 9.1-mill levy for a new campus which resulted in an increase of $319/year for every $100,000 of assessed property value, according to Livengood.

Muskingum Township voted for a 1-mill increase which equated to $35-per-year increase for every $100,000 of assessed property value.

“The majority of our property tax dollars, between 60 and 70%, go towards funding our schools,” said Livengood. “The rest is split between the county and townships, villages, or cities, depending on where you live.”

He said every taxing authority has different needs and therefore different levies in place, but how taxes are calculated, collected, and distributed is the same.

Livengood recommended residents visit https://auditorwashingtoncountyohio.gov/ and search their property to find the tax distribution breakdown.